Sir John Sherbrooke (Halifax) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids History |
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|---|---|
 Nova Scotia |
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| Name | Sir John Sherbrooke |
| Namesake | John Coape Sherbrooke |
| Owner | Joseph Freeman, Enos Collins, John Barss, Joseph. Barss, Benjamin Knaut |
| Port of registry | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Commissioned | 11 February 1813 |
| Honours and awards |
18 captures |
| Fate | Captured and burned 1814 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Privateer Brig |
| Tons burthen | 277, or 278 bm |
| Sail plan | brig |
| Crew | 150; reduced to 40 men when engaged in mercantile trade |
| Armament |
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The Sir John Sherbrooke was a famous Nova Scotian privateer brig during the War of 1812. She was the largest privateer from Atlantic Canada during that war. A privateer was a private ship given permission by the government to attack enemy merchant ships.
Sir John Sherbrooke hunted American merchant ships. She captured 18 of them between February 1813 and 1814. She also helped protect Nova Scotian waters. Later, she became a merchant ship herself. In 1814, an American privateer captured her. To prevent her from being used by the enemy, she was burned.
Contents
How the Ship Began
The Sir John Sherbrooke was originally an American privateer brig named Thorn. She was armed with eighteen 9-pounder cannons. Thorn was from Marblehead, Massachusetts.
The British captured Thorn on October 31, 1812. This happened during her very first voyage. British naval ships like Tenedos, Shannon, Nymphe, and Curlew were involved in her capture. Thorn was then sold in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was renamed after Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, a former colonial administrator.
Life as a Privateer
The Sir John Sherbrooke received three "letters of marque." These were official documents that allowed her to act as a privateer. Her main captain was Joseph Freeman. He was an experienced privateer from Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Captain Freeman worked well with the British navy. The navy treated him with the same respect as their own officers.
Sir John Sherbrooke was very active. On April 7, 1813, she captured the ship Betsey. The Betsey was sailing from Newport to Havana. Sir John Sherbrooke sent her to Halifax as a prize.
On May 19, Sir John Sherbrooke recaptured the brig Paragon. An American privateer had taken Paragon while she was sailing from Scotland to New Brunswick. Paragon arrived safely in Halifax on May 24.
Sir John Sherbrooke also captured the brig Columbia on May 15. Columbia was sailing from Savannah to Boston. She was carrying cotton and reeds.
Another ship, San Gabriel, was recaptured by Sir John Sherbrooke on May 19. San Gabriel had been captured by an American privateer. Sir John Sherbrooke sent her to Halifax. The court later returned San Gabriel to her original owners.
In December 1813, money from captured ships was shared out. This included prizes like the sloops Red Bird, Apollo, Betsey, and Fame. It also included the brig Columbia and schooners Mary, Paulina, and Caroline. They even captured an American privateer schooner called Governor Plummer.
Sir John Sherbrooke also sailed with British naval ships. With Rattler and Bream, she captured 11 American vessels in just three days in April.
The Sir John Sherbrooke helped the famous British ship Shannon. Before Shannon's big battle against the USS Chesapeake, Sir John Sherbrooke brought 50 Irish workers to Shannon. These workers were being transported from Waterford to Newfoundland. Sir John Sherbrooke had recaptured their ship, Duck, from an American privateer.
Sir John Sherbrooke also started the chase of a well-known American privateer schooner, the Young Teazer. Other British ships joined the chase. The Young Teazer was eventually destroyed by one of her own crew members. He feared being captured because he had broken his parole from an earlier capture.
Becoming a Merchant Ship
The Sir John Sherbrooke was much larger than most privateers from the colonies. She needed to capture many American ships to pay for her large crew. As the war went on, there were fewer American ships to capture. So, it became too expensive to operate Sir John Sherbrooke as a privateer.
Her owners sold her in 1814. Her new owners used her as a merchant ship. This meant she would carry goods for trade instead of fighting.
The Ship's Final Days
In the autumn of 1814, Sir John Sherbrooke was sailing from Halifax. She was carrying oil and dried fish. She met an American privateer called Syren. Syren captured Sir John Sherbrooke and put a prize crew on board.
However, a British naval group soon appeared. They chased the captured Sir John Sherbrooke towards the shore. The American prize crew managed to escape with some valuable items. The British frigate tried to get the ship back, but gunfire from a nearby fort stopped them. Since they couldn't recover the ship, the British set Sir John Sherbrooke on fire. She burned down to the waterline.
Later, on November 16, 1814, boats from HMS Spencer and Telegraph chased the American privateer Syren ashore. Syren's crew then destroyed their own ship.
Interesting Facts
The Sir John Sherbrooke was not as famous as a smaller privateer called the Liverpool Packet. However, some people think that Sir John Sherbrooke inspired a line in the Stan Rogers song "Barrett's Privateers". The line is "I wish I was in Sherbrooke now." This is because the town of Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia did not exist when the song is set (1778). Also, the Sir John Sherbrooke ship was built much later than the song's setting.
